A Small and Rugged Home in Texas

Great use of a small space in the big state of Texas.

Designer Ginger Barber creates a comfortable yet rugged design in this small 1850s guesthouse in Texas.

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Guesthouse

Guesthouse

An 1850s guesthouse sits across the meadow from the main house on this 180-acre farm in Round Top, Texas.

Victoria Pearson

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Guesthouse Living Room

Guesthouse Living Room

In the guesthouse, an extra-large club chair is slipcovered in designer Ginger Barber's favorite check, Marvic's Damier in Beige. The floor was stained chocolate brown and white, then topped with a cowhide found at a local antiques fair. Barber thinks the antique cage doll in the corner is "like a ceremonial angel keeping watch."

Guesthouse

An 1850s guesthouse sits across the meadow from the main house on this 180-acre farm in Round Top, Texas.

Victoria Pearson

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Guesthouse Living Room

In the guesthouse, an extra-large club chair is slipcovered in designer Ginger Barber's favorite check, Marvic's Damier in Beige. The floor was stained chocolate brown and white, then topped with a cowhide found at a local antiques fair. Barber thinks the antique cage doll in the corner is "like a ceremonial angel keeping watch."

Guesthouse Walls

Guesthouse Bedroom

A small sofa in a guesthouse bedroom is covered in Schumacher's Kumar Silk Matka in Natural. Old grain sacks were turned into throw pillows. The cow photo is by Vivian Arcidiacono.

Victoria Pearson

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Guesthouse Bedroom

"I love a bit of purple," says Barber. The guest room's striped coverlet is from Neal and Co. The iron bed is from Ralph Lauren, and Barber had the bedside lamp made from an old staircase baluster.

Victoria Pearson

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Guesthouse Bathroom

"This bathroom console in the guesthouse was an antiques fair find," says Barber. "It's all about the back and forth, crisp white vessel sinks and white walls against the worn zinc top and rustic baskets."

Victoria Pearson

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Guesthouse Hallway

Barber placed a wicker blanket chest in the guesthouse's wide central hallway "to throw boots in at the end of the day." The large-scale checkerboard pattern on the floor "makes the space feel huge."

Victoria Pearson

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Guesthouse Seating

An antique armchair in the guesthouse is upholstered in white cowhide.

Victoria Pearson

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Porch

A willow swing and Janus et Cie wicker chairs on the guesthouse's screened porch are used by a rotating cast of family and friends. The coffee table is an old pigeon crate on wheels. "I use a lot of unusual baskets," says Barber. "I associate woven things with comfort." She also loves children's chairs. "I'm big on little chairs like these. I collect them. At a party I'll grab a child's chair from a corner and pull it up next to a friend and sit there for hours."